Jesus said, I came into this world to be a judge, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

Jesus saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples put a question to him, saying, Master, was it because of this man's sin, or the sin of his father and mother, that he has been blind from birth? 3 Jesus said in answer, It was not because of his sin, or because of his father's or mother's; it was so that the works of God might be seen openly in him. 4 While it is day we have to do the works of him who sent me: the night comes when no work may be done. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes, 7 And said to him, Go and make yourself clean in the bath of Siloam (the sense of the name is, Sent). So he went away and, after washing, came back able to see. 8 Then the neighbours and others who had seen him before in the street, with his hand out for money, said, Is not this the man who got money from people? 9 Some said, It is he: others said, No, but he is like him. He said, I am he. 10 So they said to him, How then were your eyes made open? 11 His answer was: The man who is named Jesus put earth mixed with water on my eyes, and said to me, Go and make yourself clean in Siloam: so I went away and, after washing, am now able to see. 12 And they said to him, Where is he? His answer was: I have no knowledge.

13 They took him before the Pharisees--this man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which the earth was mixed by Jesus and the man's eyes were made open was the Sabbath. 15 So the Pharisees put more questions to him about how his eyes had been made open. And he said to them, He put earth on my eyes, and I had a wash and am able to see. 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, That man has not come from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. Others said, How is it possible for a sinner to do such signs? So there was a division among them. 17 Again they said to the blind man, What have you to say about him for opening your eyes? And he said, He is a prophet.

18 Now the Jews had no belief in the statement that he had been blind and was now able to see, till they sent for the father and mother of the man whose eyes had been made open, 19 And put the question to them, saying, Is this your son, of whom you say that he was blind at birth? how is it then that he is now able to see? 20 In answer his father and mother said, We are certain that this is our son and that he was blind at birth: 21 But how it is he is now able to see, or who made his eyes open, we are not able to say: put the question to him; he is old enough to give an answer for himself. 22 They said this because of their fear of the Jews: for the Jews had come to an agreement that if any man said that Jesus was the Christ he would be put out of the Synagogue. 23 That was the reason why they said, He is old enough; put the question to him.

24 So they sent a second time for the man who had been blind and they said to him, Give glory to God: it is clear to us that this man is a sinner. 25 He said in answer, I have no knowledge if he is a sinner or not, but one thing I am certain about; I was blind, and now I see. 26 Then they said to him, What did he do to you? how did he give you the use of your eyes? 27 His answer was: I have said it before, but your ears were shut: why would you have me say it again? is it your desire to become his disciples? 28 And they were angry with him and said, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We are certain that God gave his word to Moses: but as for this man, we have no knowledge where he comes from. 30 The man said in answer, Why, here is a strange thing! You have no knowledge where he comes from though he gave me the use of my eyes. 31 We have knowledge that God does not give ear to sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God and does his pleasure, to him God's ears are open. 32 In all the years nobody has ever before seen the eyes of a man blind from birth made open. 33 If this man did not come from God he would be unable to do anything. 34 Their answer was: You came to birth through sin; do you make yourself our teacher? And they put him out of the Synagogue.

35 It came to the ears of Jesus that they had put him out, and meeting him he said, Have you faith in the Son of man? 36 He said in answer, And who is he, Lord? Say, so that I may have faith in him. 37 Jesus said to him, You have seen him; it is he who is talking to you. 38 And he said, Lord, I have faith. And he gave him worship. 39 And Jesus said, I came into this world to be a judge, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 40 These words came to the ears of the Pharisees who were with him and they said to him, Are we, then, blind? 41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind you would have no sin: but now that you say, We see; your sin is there still.

Jesus said: Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened; Come — not to sect services that claim he is there, not to prayer meetings, not to altar calls, not to read the Bible — but directly to him, by silently waiting on him, listening for his voiced commands and teachings. Come all of you who labor against sin; all of you who are heavy burdened with your sins. (Blessed are those who know they are poor in Holy Spirit; Blessed are those who mourn under their burden of sin.) The order, (not just to the Jews then, but to all of us who suffer with our sins) is to come to me, and learn from me. How? You must go to him. You must wait on him - listen silently, with the humility of a sinner in need of his changing power - grace. Seek, listen, obey..seek, listen, obey.....seek, listen, obey. Do this persistently, staying obedient to all the commands you are told to do, and you will experience all the promises of God, including the rest.

I will give you rest, and you will find rest for your souls. So that we enter what rest? To cease from your own labors. To cease even from your own thoughts. Since the carnal mind is enmity with God, it is destroyed by grace on the inward cross of self-denial and replaced with the mind of Christ, supplying the thoughts, the words and deeds. So that we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), 2 Cor 10:5. So that we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart, 1 Cor 2:16. So you can Strip yourselves of your former nature that controlled your conduct, which corrupts itself through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the newly created nature [of Christ], which is created in God's image of true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:22-24.

When the carnal mind is destroyed, man's thoughts and labors cease; he enters into the rest of God, with God supplying the power and energy, direction, promptings, and knowledge. Man no longer works for his food. The restored man's works are powered and prompted by the Spirit of God:

This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing; yet they would not hear. Isa 28:12
Therefore, since a promise of entering into his rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should come short of it. Heb 4:1
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mat 11:29
For he who has entered His rest, has himself also ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Heb 4:10

George Fox described the Sabbath rest of the Christian, being a rest into Christ Jesus, saying: "Think not your own thoughts, for in Christ we are atop that nature where evil thoughts are, that nature [having been] taken away by Christ. So you should not think your own thoughts, do your own works, [or] speak your own words." The blood of Jesus is sprinkled on your conscience to purge you of dead works (you own will's works), so that you do works prompted by and energized by God. This blood is to be witnessed, (as in experienced); it is one of the three witnesses on earth.

Jesus said: Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? Mat 6:27. Until Jesus Christ controls our words, actions, and thoughts, he is not our Lord - we can call him Lord, but that doesn't mean he rules us as our Lord, or that we obey him as his servant. Remember Jesus said: Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, John 8:34. If we are a slave to sin, he can't be our Lord and Master because a man cannot serve two masters; he must hate one, to serve the other.

This rest is like the Sabbath rest, a mere shadow of the Christian's glorious rest, which Hebrews severely warns us against failing to enter: Since a promise is left us of entering into his rest, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to come short of it. Heb 4:1. This rest is what Jesus promised: Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Mat 11:29. This is the rest with which you cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Isa 28:12. This is a serious warning to all who name themselves Christians: to avoid losing your soul and being banned from heaven, as the Jews were killed in the desert and banned from entering the promise land because of unbelief in God's promises, you must zealously labor in faith to attain the promised rest of the spiritual Sabbath, which is union with God and entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, within you and around you.

We sit down with Christ in the heavens to enter the rest, to enter the rest from fighting our enemies; like Israel entered the rest from fighting and purging their land of the surrounding heathen peoples. Only our enemies are spiritual: lust, rage, pride, selfishness, envy, greed, covetousness, jealousy, lying, cheating, stealing, sexual immorality, profane language, and evil thoughts, etc. Salvation is to be delivered from sin and be protected from evil, (sanctified), from our enemies of sin. But you who would be a Christian and to be freed from sin — you must believe in, hope for, and strive to realize God's promise to set the captives free, to become free of sin; otherwise, you too will perish in the spiritual wilderness without ever entering the promise land - heaven. Don't be like the Jews who said they could not conquer the giants and refused to cross the Jordan to do battle, even with God fighting for them; don't say sin can't be conquered, even with God's promised help; don't say who can war with the beast? Because victory over sin, our enemies within our heart, is the promised salvation.

That he would grant unto us,
that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. Luke 1:74-5

2 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; What yoke? The yoke of obedience, and the humility of learning, which requires waiting, silently, listening for his voice — which your brain does not want to do and will tell you you are wasting your time. But do not be discouraged if you don't hear for some time. Even your waiting is to your credit: Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping on you. Psalms 33:22. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God beside you, who acts for the one who waits for him. Isa 64:4.

You will eventually hear. Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. Proverbs 8:34, Luke 11:28.

His burden is light, his yoke is easy, with no blood loss like his.